View video...New York - WABC, August 24, 2007) - A family's dream home on the waterfront in Queens turned into a living hell. The family says white neighbors in Howard Beach have made it clear they're not welcomed.
It happened in a neighborhood infamous for racism -- the Hamilton Beach Section of Howard Beach.
Eyewitness News reporter Jim Dolan is there with the story.
Police are outside Kris Gounden's house here 24 hours a day protecting his family. Though we should point out that the neighbors say it has nothing at all to do with race, that they are upset with some construction that he is doing.
Kris Gounden couldn't believe what he was hearing from his own neighbor.
"He started yelling racial slurs to me ... sick and tired of this fence ... and so I was trying to figure out what really it is I could do. I can't change the color of my skin or change the fence," he said.
Gounden bought his Howard Beach home seventeen months ago and he claims the harrassment began immediately. But on a recent night it boiled over with an attack.
"He proceeded to run in, grab a baseball bat, running out ... saying I want to kill you," Gounden said.
Nineteen-year-old Michael Hussey, who lives next door, was arrested and charged with hate crimes. He was not taking visitors today. But neighbors, who did not want to be identified, said it has nothing to do with the color of his skin.
"It's his arrogance," one neighbor told us.
The local councilman hasn't been much help, blaming Gounden for being attacked.
Councilman Joseph Addabbo: "He done everything that is up to code ..."
Jim Dolan: "So what he did on the property is why he got attacked?"
Councilman Joseph Addabbo: "That's right."
Meanwhile, Gounden's fourteen-year-old daughter has learned a lot in Howard Beach.
"I just didn't think that anything like that really ... any racism has existed still," she said.
Gounden say he has no intention of leaving and intends to finish the work on his house.
